Shoe rack and carrying case



Dec. 3, 1968 c. R. CHOSTNER 3,414,093

' SHOE RACK AND CARRYING CASE Filed Aug. 30, 1966 I/VVE/VTOR CHESTER A.(HOST/V51? United States Patent 3,414,093 SHOE RACK AND CARRYING CASEChester R. Chostuer, 222 Vale Ave., Rockford, 11]. 61107 Filed Aug. 30,1966, Ser. No. 576,119 11 Claims. (Cl. 190-16) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The shoe rack has adhesion pads of Velcro provided thereon inspaced relation and there are mating pads of Velcro provided on thebottoms of the shoes enabling the shoes to be held detachably on therack by adhesion of the pads. A carrying case having hinged halves withgenerally rectangular recesses provided in the bottoms thereof, receivegenerally rectangular shoe racks on which the shoes are mounted, atleast one of these racks being removable and there being suspensionmeans on one longitudinal edge portion of the removable rack enablingthe same to be hung up for better display of the shoes carried thereon,the suspension means being further movable to a propping position toprop the rack in an inclined position on a generally horizontal support.

This invention relates to a new and improved shoe salesmans shoe rackand carrying case designed to simplify the carrying of samples andexpedite setting them up in a display when selling shoes to a shoedepartment buyer or shoe store proprietor and also enable promptdisposal of such samples after a sales presentation.

I have found that the newly available material, known as Velcro,disclosed in De Mestral Patent 2,717,437, is ideal for the new use thatis made of this material in accordance with the present invention,because with two cooperating Velcro pads, one with the pile thereofformed by loops and the other by hooks, one cemented to the rack at astrategic point with respect to the shoes to be displayed and the othersto a strategic point on the bottoms of the shoes, I am enabled to mountsample shoes on a rack securely enough to enable carrying them aboutwithout any fear of the samples becoming unfastened and damaged byscuffing in transit, while still permitting any given sample to beremoved readily enough for closer inspection and be replaced, thepresence of the pads on the bottom of the shoes being not in the leastobjectionable in the handling of samples nor detracting from theirappearance, while still serving to hold the shoes securely when placedproperly on the rack. Without this sales help, a shoe salesman wastesentirely too much time setting up a display and taking it down, and itis impossible that way to keep the samples in a given order fordisplaying them to best advantage, and after a display has been set upand the time comes to return the shoes to the carrying case there isalways danger of some samples being mislaid or of some of the customersshoes getting mixed in with the samples causing the customer trouble andloss, and causing embarrassment and trouble for the salesman. All ofthese objections are either eliminated or greatly reduced in the use ofthe present invention.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a carrying caseof improved design and construction, having two hinged rectangularhalves, each of which is formed with a rectangular bottom depression inwhich to house and lock a detachable rack, the main body portion of eachhalf above this depression affording ample space to accommodate theshoes so arranged that the heel portions of the shoes on one rackoverlie the toe portions of the shoes on the other rack when the case isclosed, thus utilizing to best advantage all the avail- 3,414,093Patented Dec. 3, 1968 "ice able space without crowding the shoes orscufiing them on one another in transit.

Another object is to provide racks of the kind mentioned with the shoesanchored thereon in the novel manner described, each rack having hookmeans on one longitudinal edge portion thereof which in one positionenables hooking the rack on any convenient shelf in a store or officeduring the sales presentation, or in another position propping the rackwith the same hook means in an inclined position on a desk or counter,where that mode of display is necessary or preferred, the hook meansbeing extensible from or retractable into the rack in such a way as notto be in the way and yet being readily available for hanging purposes orpropping purposes.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my improved carrying case, shown closed;

FIG. 2 is an end View of the case, shown opened;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show the carrying case opened with racks shown thereinon which shoes are secured in the novel manner of my invention, usingVelcro material, mens shoes being shown on one type of rack in FIG. 3,ladies high-heeled shoes on another type in FIG. 4, and ladieslow-heeled shoes on still another type in FIG. 5, each of these threeviews showing the left-hand half in section to illustrate the racktherein in end elevation, and showing, in dotted lines in the right-handportion, the inverted or closed position of the left-hand half,indicating how the shoes on the racks nest compactly in relation to oneanother, using all available space to best advantage, without crowdingor any danger of scufiing the shoes in carrying the same;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail, serving to illustratediagrammatically the interaction of two cooperating Velcro pads of thekind used here, one with the pile thereon formed with loops and theother by hooks;

FIG. 7 is an end view of a portion of a rack showing one way offastening ladies high-heeled shoes onto the racks using a single pad onthe sole of each shoe, as illustrated in the disassembled view, FIG. 7a,to cooperate with the pad running the length of one crossstrip on therack while the heel fits in a notch in a companion parallel cross-stripon the rack;

FIG. 8 is an end view similar to FIG. 7 showing another and at presentpreferred method of fastening the shoes, using one pad on the sole asshown in the related disassembled view FIG. 8a, cooperating with a padrunning the length of one cross-piece on the rack while another padapplied to the instep cooperates with another pad running the length ofanother cross-piece on the rack; and

FIG. 9 is an end view of a portion of another rack like that of FIG. 8showing an extensible hook means designed for use in hanging the rack ona suitable support 3r 'lpropping it in an inclined position on a counteror The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring first to FIG. 6, this is a fairly diagrammatic illustration ofthe Velcro material disclosed in De Mestral Patent 2,717,437, flexiblepads 10 and 11 being cooperating pads of this fabric material arrangedto be brought into abutment with one another so as to interengage themultiplicity of hook-shaped projections 12 on the exposed face of onepad with similarly hook-shaped or looped projections 13 provided on thecooperating exposed face of the other pad 11. The interengaging pads maybe of any desired shape and of any desired size, the size varyingdepending upon how firmly it is desired to hold a shoe on a rack. Thus,fairly small sized pads will suffice on lighter childrens shoes andlighter ladies shoes, whereas the pads used on heavier mens shoes shouldbe larger so as to provide better holding power needed because of thegreater weight. Usually it is best to provide the pads on the shoe soles14 of a desired size and provide the cooperating pad 11 the full lengthof the associated crosspiece 15 of the rack 16, so that the salesman isalways certain of having the full area of pad 10 interengaged with pad11. The high heel 17 of the ladies Shoe 18 is shown as engaged in arounded notch 19 provided in the companion parallel cross-piece 20 ofthe rack 16. Each rack 16 will have opposed end members 21 in parallelrelation, each long enough to allow the provision of two pairs of spacedparallel cross-pieces 15 and 20 thereon so as to carry two rows of shoeson each rack in parallel spaced relationship to one another, similarlyas seen in the two racks 16a and 16b in FIG. 4.

In the rack 16:: of FIGS. 8 and 8a the same cross-piece 15 with its pads11 applied thereto by cementing or gluing is employed, these pads 11cooperating with pads 10 applied to the soles 14 of the shoes 18. Theother crosspiece 20 is a half-round strip of wood or other suitablematerial fastened to opposed end members 21, the crosspiece 20' havingarched pads 11 applied thereto to cooperate with pads 10 that arecemented or glued in arched form in the insteps 22 of the shoes 18' andonto the curved upper front portions of the heels 17.

Mens shoes like those shown at 18a in FIG. 3 have pads 10 applied to thesoles and heels, cooperating with pads 11 fastened to and extending thefull length of crosspieces 15a and 20a on racks 16d.

The ladies low heeled shoes or flats, like those shown at 1812 in FIG.5, have pads 10 applied to the soles and heels, these cooperating withpads 11 that are fastened to and extending the full length ofcross-pieces 15b and 20b provided on racks 16c, racks 16d shown in FIG.3 taking only a single row of mens shoes while racks 160 willaccommodate two rows of ladies shoes.

With childrens shoes it is possible to accommodate three rows of shoeson a single rack, assuming the racks are to be approximately the sameoverall dimensions to fit in the recessed rectangular bottom portions 24of the two halves 25 and 26 of a carrying case 27, shown in closedcondition in FIG, 1 and opened in FIGS. 2-5. Any suitable or preferredmeans of detachably securing the racks in the depressed bottom portions24 of the halves of the carrying case 27 may be provided, for example,turn-type fasteners 28 pivoted at one end, as at 29, on the ends ofposts 30 suitably secured in the depressions 24 in the case 27 andlocated at opposite ends of each rack. On the other hand, the racks maybe secured permanently in the depressions 24 as indicated in FIGS. 3 and5 by rivets 31 fastening the rack permanently in place in the recess 24.That method of fastening would also be satisfactory for all the otherracks. However, it is preferred to have the racks removable like thoseshown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, and with all of these I prefer, as shown inFIG. 9, to provide a hook 32 extending lengthwise of the rack havingparallel rods 33 on the opposite ends slidable in bearings 34 swivelledon the inner side of the end members of the rack 16a, so as to be out ofthe way under the shoes on the rack and also be out of sight untilpulled out when needed when hanging the rack on a shelf in a store or onany convenient hooks or nails, wherever the sales presentation is tomade, with the rack suspended on the hook in a substantially verticalplane for easy viewing of all of the shoes by the prospective buyer andsalesman. When it is preferred or is just as convenient to show thesamples by propping the rack up on a deck or counter, the same hook 32,when swung to right angle relationship to the adjacent end of the rack,with the headed ends 35 of the rods 33 abutting the under side of theadjacent cross-piece 15, serves as a convenient prop. In either case,

the hook 32 is movable to and from operative position without disturbingany of the shoes.

In operation, an enterprising shoe salesman can so arrange his shoes onthese racks that he can best present the sales story he wants to tellthe prospective buyer and best promote sales of his merchandise. Then,if the prospective buyer desires to handle one or more of the shoes,these can be removed readily enough and be handled without the Velcropads interfering in any Way or detracting from the attractive appearanceof the shoes, and it is also a simple matter thereafter to replace theshoes on the rack. The shoes are held so securely that there is nodanger whatever of any shoes becoming unfastened and dropping off therack and suffering any scuif damage in transit. A salesman can quicklyenough disconnect a rack from its carrying case and hang it up, or propit up, as the occasion requires and, when the sales session is over, itis a simple matter to replace the rack, and whatever shoes have beenremoved can be put back where they belong so as to keep the shoes .inproper order and the carrying case can be closed. There is far lesslikelihood of the prospective buyer getting some of his shoes mixed inwith samples belonging to the salesman. It is evident in the right-handportion of FIG. 3 that the mens shoes on the one rack 16d are disposedwith the toe portions overlying the toe portions of the shoes on theother rack, as necessitated by these larger shoes. With ladies highheeled shoes shown in FIG. 4, it is usually best to stagger the shoes inthe one rack in relationship to the shoes in the other rack therebelow.That isnt necessary with low heeled shoes shown in FIG. 5.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of our invention, The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination, a support having an adhesion pad thereon, and a shoehaving a mating adhesion pad thereon on the bottom thereof, whereby theshoe will be held detachably on said support by the adhesion of saidpads to one another.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adhesion padsare made of Velcro-like material.

3. In combination, an elongated support on which adhesion pad means ismounted, and a plurality of shoes each having a mating adhesion padthereon on the bottom thereof, whereby the shoes will be held detachablyon said support in spaced substantially parallel relationship to oneanother by the adhesion of said pads on the shoes to the pad means onthe support.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein said adhesion padmeans and adhesion pads are made of Velcro-like material.

5. In combination, a support having a pair of adhesion pads mountedthereon in spaced relation to one another, and a shoe having a pair ofmating adhesion pads mounted thereon on the bottom thereof inlongitudinally spaced relation, whereby the shoe will be held detachablyon said support by the adhesion of the pair of pads on the shoe with thepads on the support.

6. In combination, a pair of elongated supports in spaced substantiallyparallel relation, the one support having adhesion pad means providedthereon, the other support having notches provided therein inlongitudinally spaced relation, and a plurality of ladies high heeledshoes each having a mating adhesion pad provided on the bottom of thesole portion thereof, whereby the shoes can be supported on saidsupports by detachable adhesion of the pads on the sole portions to thepad means on the one support while the heels of the shoes are disposedin said notches.

7. In combination, a pair of elongated supports in spaced substantiallyparallel relation, both having adhesion pad means mounted thereon, and aplurality of shoes each having a pair of mating pads provided thereon inlongitudinally spaced relation, whereby the shoes will be helddetacha'bly on said supports by the adhesion of the pads on the shoeswith the pad means on said support.

8. In combination, a shoe carrying case having hinged halves, generallyrectangular shoe racks mounted in the two halves of said case, eachhaving means for detachably securing a plurality of shoes side by sidethereon by their bottoms in spaced parallel relationship to one another,the halves of said case being deep enough to accommodate the rows ofshoes on the racks in the two halves out of contact with one anotherwhen the case is closed, each half of the case having a generallyrectangular recess in the bottom thereof in which the racks areinterchangeably received.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 8 including means fordetachably securing the racks in said recesses.

10. In combination, a shoe carrying case having hinged halves, generallyrectangular shoe racks mounted in the two halves of said case, eachhaving means for detachably securing a plurality of shoes side by sidethereon by their bottoms in spaced parallel relationship to one another,the halves of said case being deep enough to accommodate the rows ofshoes on the racks in the two halves out of contact with one anotherwhen the case is closed, each half of the case having a generallyrectangular recess in the bottom thereof to receive said racks, at leastone of said racks being removable, the case including suspension meanson one longitudinal edge portion of said removable rack enabling thesame to be hung up for better display of the shoes carried thereon.

11. A carrying case as set forth in claim 10, wherein the suspensionmeans is movable to a propping position to prop the rack in an inclinedposition on a generally horizontal support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,968,580 7/1934 Wheary 206--7 XR2,698,689 1/1955 Novack 19016 XR 2,866,559 12/1958 Byrne 21135 3,001,6509/1961 Turner 19016XR 3,306,405 2/1967 Rosenblum 19051 DONALD F. NORTON,Primary Examiner.

